


Gemini

by Lyncias



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Castor and Pollux-esque AU, Gen, Immortality, One Shot, Reincarnation Implied, fluffs, honestly thats when I write all my stuff, it's castor and pollux man, kind of an open ending?, someone's gotta die, this is another 4am story, this is what happens when you watch infinity war four times children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 08:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14667345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyncias/pseuds/Lyncias
Summary: Yuta had always been painfully aware of his immortality





	Gemini

**Author's Note:**

> AAAA so I finally wrote the immortality AU I've been wanting to write!!
> 
> I'm really excited to share this with you guys! Tell me what you think! I have a few more ideas set in this AU including a follow-up to this one so comment if you think I should write more!
> 
> Thank you for clicking and I hope you enjoy <3!

Hinata was born three minutes before Yuta. Three blissful yet painful minutes that felt like an eternity, two brothers separated in two worlds. Then his younger brother came along, crying even louder than his brother. When the nurses put them next to each other, it didn’t take the twin long to grab each other with their small hands.

It also didn’t take long for the nurses to notice the small, almost translucent birthmark on younger boy’s upper left arm. One of the young nurses gasped with wide eyes.

“It’s the mark of the Immortal,” she said through quivering lips. The other gathered around her, eager to catch a sight of the mark. Even the oldest nurse in the hospital couldn’t help but stare. The Immortals are so rare, less than one percent of the world’s population. Helping to birth one would be a fun party story for the rest of the nurses’ lives.

“Quick,” one of the young nurses said. “Let’s check the other one.”

To their disappointment, though they were not shocked, the older brother did not have a mark. He was a normal human, just like the nurses. Just like his parents. The nurses sighed in disappointment but did not dwell on it. After all, an Immortal child was the closest thing to a living myth. Immortal twins were actual products of myth and imagination.

When the nurses presented the children to their parents, the mother had laughed and wept and held the boys close to her chest. The father smiled a tight-lipped grin, reaching over and stroking the cheeks of his sons. They named the older boy Hinata, the younger one Yuta.

Such a beautiful family, the nurses whispered to each other. Although they knew the procedure of dealing with an Immortal child, they did not bring it up to the parents.

Not yet, the nurses thought. Let them enjoy their moments of peace. Let them enjoy days spent together as a family. News of separation can come later.

The family left the hospital after a week. The mother held her immortal child close to her, while the father cradled the mortal son in his arms.

“We can tell them when they come in for their check-up,” the nurses reasoned. They didn’t know that they should have immediately reported the presence of an Immortal child to the Academy. After all, they had never seen one. Many will never see one again.

—

The twins were six when their lives were changed by a stormy night and a driver that had too much beer. No more sweet lullabies and rides on their father’s shoulders. The two were tossed into a grey, lumbering building full of children who had lost their parents and children that were lost by the parents. The bright-haired and happy twins were a much-needed anomaly in the desolated orphanage.

Their jokes made the tired teachers show a hint of a grin. Their tricks made the children with sour mood watch with gaping mouth and eyes filled with wonder. They had even done the impossible. They had made the stoic and stone-faced headmistress show a smile. Everyone knew the Aoi twins and everyone had loved them.

No one, however, knew their secret. The two were tight-lipped about the birthmark on Yuta’s arm, protecting the secret with their little arms and clever minds. As young as they were, they knew that if anyone had found out about Yuta’s mark, he would be taken away to the Academy where all the Immortal children were. Yuta didn’t know what “being taken to the Academy” entails, but he knew that he would have to leave his brother behind, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

They grew up in the squalid orphanage, painting the grey walls with laughter. The orphanage taught the twins to be resilient and resourceful. The teachers had relied on Hinata to help with the younger children while Yuta helped the headmistress maintain peace within the walls.

When night comes and the orphanage sleeps, the twin would huddle together under their blanket, in the small room assigned to them located at the end of a long hallway.

The mark on Yuta’s arm grew with him. It was still translucent, glowing with faint, light blue luminescence.

The mark had always fascinated Hinata. When he stared into it, it was as if he could see an eternity under the skin of his twin brother, surging and pulsing, threatening to break through the thin barrier that kept it tightly locked up.

Hinata wondered how a human body could contain such magnificence. But then again, Yuta is an Immortal. Nothing about him, except for his appearance, could be classified as human.

Yuta never keeps secrets from his brother, except for one, of course.

What fascinates Hinata was nothing more than an ugly, burning burden for him. A scar that pronounces his difference, a tattoo that brings him shame, like the tattoos prisoners receive when they first arrive in prison. It singled him out.

Yuta also understands the implication of having such a tattoo. He wasn’t sure if his brother has ever thought about that implication. He was sure Hinata must have, but he had never once mentioned it. And when Yuta looked at his brother under their blanket, his face illuminated by the soft glow of the mark, Yuta wasn’t sure if Hinata had never thought about it, or he simply refuses to think about it.

He tries hard as well, but during the night, when the world slept and he couldn’t, it was the only thing he can think of.

Having that mark is a guarantee of a long life. The oldest Immortal was thousands of years old, but no one knew exactly how long an Immortal can live. That didn’t matter to Yuta. All he knew was that humans could only live a hundred years, maybe even less. That prospect of losing his brother one day was horrifying enough. The knowledge that he would have to live on for thousands of years after? Just the thought was enough to immobilize Yuta and leave him gloomy for days.

So he kept the mark hidden, even away from his brother. He covered it with long sleeve shirts and coats, hoping that that would hide away the truth about him. Hoping that was enough to make himself forget, ever so slightly, his differences and how it would affect his future.

The mark that was hailed as a miracle by many became nothing but a burden and a shame to Yuta Aoi.

—

The news of their acceptance into the best university in the nation came two days after the twins’ birthday. When Hinata read the letter, he ran to find his brother, joyful laughter echoing in the wake of his dash through the hall.

“We got in!” Hinata called as he burst into the backyard. Yuta looked up from his flowers, startled and confused. When he saw the letters in Hinata’s hand, his eyes grew wide.

“We got in?” he asked, almost tentatively.

“We got in!” Hinata repeated. “We’re going to Yumenosaki!”

Yuta grabbed the letters from Hinata’s hands. He held the letters in shaking hands, reading every word. It was as if the words would realign itself out of vengeance if he doesn’t pay enough attention to them. But the words didn’t realign. The letter didn’t change. They really were going to one of the best university in the nation.

Hinata and Yuta went to look for the headmistress, excited to show her their letters. When they showed the letters to the headmistress, the woman gasped. She wiped away a tear with her plump fingers and held out her arms. “Oh,” she said, “I am so proud of you, my boys.” It felt like yesterday when they first made her smile.

When he hugged her, Yuta noticed a strand of white streaking through her raven black hair. He felt a pang of sadness manifesting in his chest.

The children were all so sad to see them go. The young ones held on tight to their shirts, asking over and over again for them to stay. When they told the children that they must go, they asked, with slurred words, that they would visit.

“Of course,” Hinata said, crouching down to pat the hair of the children around him.

“Every month,” Yuta promised.

As the two boarded the bus, they sat near a window. To the left was the orphanage, sitting quietly in the lilac dusk. The spotted bus window distorted its shape, as if the two were looking at the orphanage in a dream or through a thin veil of swirling fog.

Looking back at the grey building, Yuta suddenly realized how small it is. The building that had once seemed like a labyrinth containing the entire world was only a two-floor building, square and solid. Something was ending. He was losing something he could never regain.

“You alright?” Hinata asked, noticing Yuta’s stares.

“Yeah,” Yuta said. He grabbed his brother’s hand and squeezed. “Hinata,” he called quietly. His brother cocked his head and looked at him curiously. “Hinata, promise me you won’t leave.”

Hinata pursed his lips. A few moments later, he squeezed Yuta’s hand twice. “I’m always gonna be here,” he said with his trademark grin. “Where else can I go?”

Yuta wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by the driver’s voice, announcing the bus’s departure. When he looked into Hinata’s eyes, he knew that Hinata knew he could not uphold the promise. As the orphanage disappeared on the horizon, Hinata whispered again, “really. I promise you. I won’t ever leave. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

 _That is a false promise,_ Yuta wanted to say. _We both know that it not true. We both know that you will leave one day, sooner or later, because of this curse on my shoulder._

But as the bus rumbled to life and lurched forward, Yuta thought Hinata meant what he said, at least for as long as time allows him. He leaned against his brother’s shoulder and, for now, took comfort in the lie.

—

The first time Yuta found people like him was at the beginning of his second year at Yumenosaki.

He was hurrying to class, his bag hurried slang over his shoulder and running a hand through his messy hair. Hinata had stayed in the library the night before, studying for a test. Without his brother, Yuta slept through three alarms. Unfortunately for him, the first professor of the day was a strict old woman who did not care for anything that wasn’t books written three hundred years ago. She would not forgive him for being late.

As he skidded around a corner, he slammed into something, or someone.

The person stumbled back and Yuta found himself sitting on the ground, his bag fell off his shoulder, sending its contents scattering across the ground. Yuta cursed under his breath, rubbing his nose.

“Are you alright?” a voice asked. Someone held out a hand to him. Yuta unthinkingly grabbed the hand.

“Thanks,” he said. “Sorry about that. I need to get to class.” He didn’t look up as he gathered the paper.

“Don’t worry,” the person said, helping him pick up the loose sheets and books. Yuta looked at the person and froze.

The man was much taller than him. Black hair framed his pale face. His red eyes shone under the early morning light. Yuta squirmed under the man’s gaze. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out. The man glanced at his book, ignoring Yuta’s stares.

“Who’s the teacher?” he asked as he handed the pile back to Yuta.

“Um, Tamaki,” Yuta said. The words felt strange in his mouth and it sounded weird. Like he suddenly lost the ability to speak properly. There was something about the man that was different. He wasn’t just a normal student, Yuta was almost certain, but he did not know why he knew that.

Something pulsed under Yuta’s skin. Something was surging against his skin, pushing to come free.

“Harsh teacher,” the man said with a knowing smile. He held out a hand and said, “I’m Rei Sakuma.”

“Yuta Aoi.” Yuta shook the man’s cold, dry hands. “Sorry about that,” Yuta said again.

“No worries,” Rei said. “Not the worst thing to happen, right?”

“Um, yeah,” Yuta said with a quick nod.

Rei looked at him and smiled, as if amused. “We’ll meet again,” he said. “But for now, you should get to class.”

Yuta nodded hurriedly. He held the books and papers tight to his chest and resumed his walk to his class. As he walked past Rei, he felt a sudden prick of pain on his shoulder. He felt Rei’s gaze on him all the way until he rounded another corner.

It wasn’t until he dropped into his seat, a few seconds before the professor walked into the classroom, that he realized that his mark was throbbing.

—

Rei’s friendship is as unexpected as their acceptance letters.

Hinata was in complete awe when Yuta introduced him to Rei. There was something magnetizing about the man. He commands attention like no others.

Along with Rei also came several other friendships neither Hinata nor Yuta ever expected. Koga was at the top of that list.

Hinata and Yuta both knew Koga. Everyone knew him. After he staged a demonstration in front of the administration building with a few of his friends, his name became almost synonymous with disobedience and protests in the school.

They first met Koga at the small bar two blocks away from their dorm. Rei took them there, telling the twins that they don’t have to worry about anything. He was the owner of the bar. Koga was the only one in the bar. He was sitting under the far wall, next to a drum set, tuning a dark blue guitar.

Yuta felt slightly intimidated, but Hinata was never afraid of anything. He bounded over to Koga with wide eyes, bubbling about music and not following the rules and electric guitars.

Yuta walked over and sat down next to Rei, who was watching Hinata and Koga in an intense conversation about a rock band with a small smile.

“You must be curious,” Rei said. “Why I would want to be your friend.”

Yuta shifted in his seat.

“Come,” Rei said, “let’s go outside.”

Yuta followed the man out of the bar. They stood in front of the large glass window, just out of the reach of the square of light. Inside, Koga and Hinata were laughing about something. Yuta watched their mouths move and wondered what they were saying. He feels like he could hear his brother’s laughs.

“I like befriending people,” Rei said, looking through the window. The night air blew on his hair. “All kinds of people. But most of all, I try to befriend people like me.” His sharp red eyes turned to Yuta, who shivered. “People like us.”

Yuta felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. He didn’t like being exposed like this. All the work that went into maintaining a facade of normality crumbled into dust. It felt like someone ripping his heart out and showing it to the world. _Look,_ they scream, _the heart of a freak. A monster._

“How did you know?” Yuta managed to ask, though he had his own guess.

Rei shrugged. “I just do,” he said. “Immortals recognize each other. After all, there are so few of us. What perplexes me is that I have never seen you.”

“There are still a lot of Immortals around,” Yuta said uneasily.

“True,” Rei said. “But I know every Immortal in this nation. I have never seen you.” He paused. “You didn’t go to the Academy, did you?”

Yuta licked his dry lips and tasted a tang of blood. His silence was enough of a confirmation.

“I’m not going to say anything,” Rei said. “I figured you must have a good reason to not go.” Yuta pursed his lips and nodded. He glanced at Hinata, who was strumming on a guitar. Music, dulled by the glass window and brick walls, reached Yuta. It made his ears throb.

“It’s about your brother, isn’t it?”

Yuta nodded. “I can’t stay with him forever, but…” he took a deep breath, “for as long as time allows me, I won’t leave him alone.”

Rei smiled. He glanced at Koga, his face illuminated by the warm light. “I know,” he said, “I understand.”

—

Knowing another like him brought Yuta a great deal of relief. He still thinks of the mark on his shoulder as a curse, but he felt less alone. He wasn’t a monster people cast suspicious glances at. There was nothing more comforting than finding people like him. He wondered if that was why they had put all the Immortals in a school.

Another advantage of having an Immortal as a friend was that Rei was unsurprisingly well-versed in almost every subject offered at the university.

“Why are you here if you know so much?” Hinata had asked, curious.

Rei shrugged. “Keep myself occupied.”

Yuta tapped his pen on the desk and ran a hand through his hair. He wished Rei was here, so he didn’t have to try and catch up on a semester of reading. Across from him, Hinata was slumped on the desk, his fingers flipping through a textbook mindlessly.

A low buzz hung in the library. Dying sunlight streamed through the large windows and illuminated the students and their pens. Yuta held his head in his hand, staring at the textbook until all the words began to swirl and blend together.

He sighed and leaned back into his chair, tossing his pen onto the paper. Hinata glanced up.

“Same,” he said hoarsely. Yuta noticed the dark circles under his brother’s eyes. His skin almost seemed sallow under the bright, harsh light of the library.

“When was the last time you slept?” Yuta asked.

Hinata’s eyes widened as he recalled the last time he fell asleep. “Tuesday?” he said tentatively.

“Hinata,” Yuta said with a frown. “It’s _Thursday._ ”

“It’s finals week,” Hinata said. “I can’t fail. I could lose my scholarship.”

“If you die of exhaustion you won’t have the chance to use that scholarship.”

“You stayed up,” Hinata said with a small pout.

“I’m also Immortal,” Yuta said, shaking his head. Hinata glanced at his upper arm. The translucent mark’s faint glow shone through his shirt. He sighed and gathered the papers scattered on the table. As he stood, his chair made a faint scraping sound on the floor, earning him a few annoyed glances from students around him. He walked over and grabbed Hinata’s arm, pulling him up. “Come on,” he said, “we’re getting you back to your dorm.”

Hinata grabbed at the air a few times but did not put up a fight. He leaned against his brother and yawned.

The two walked out of the library and into the chilled dusk. A breeze blew through their hair. Yuta took a deep breath, feeling the fatigue draining from him. Hinata glanced at him.

“That’s unfair,” he said. “I want that energy too.”

Yuta smiled. “I also slept more than you did,” he reminded his brother. Hinata grumbled something under his breath. One of the girls living on their floor held the door when she saw the two approaching.

“Long night?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“Yeah,” Yuta said with a laugh. “Thanks.” She nodded and hurried out towards the parking lot.

The two stumbled into the dorm. For the first time, Yuta was thankful their room was on the first floor. By the time he reached their dorm, Hinata was already half past out.

“You’re going to do fine on the exams,” Yuta said as he dropped his brother on his bed. Hinata grunted. He reached out and grabbed Yuta’s hand.

“Hey,” he said, “remember when you asked me not to leave?” Yuta felt his heart grow fast. He licked his lips, tasting the blood. He didn’t know why he was nervous, but he was.

“What about it?” Yuta asked quietly.

“Well,” Hinata said. His words were slurring and he could hardly keep his eyes open. “I’m not going to leave you as long as I shall live.”

Yuta opened his mouth to say something, but Hinata had already fallen asleep. Yuta sat down on the ground and leaned against the bed, listening to his brother’s steady breathing.

 _That is a more appropriate promise,_ he thought. _Plausible. Doable._ He closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep despite the wooden beam of the bed digging into his back.

—

“Finally!” Hinata dropped down next to Yuta. “We’re free for the summer.”

Yuta handed him the ice cream he had wanted. “Here,” he said.

“Thanks,” Hinata said, stuffing the strawberry flavored ice cream into his mouth. “Love you. Let’s go do something tonight.”

Yuta thought about it. “Sure,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s just go to the park,” Hinata said. “I don’t want to stay out too late, you know?”

Yuta nodded. They were going back to the orphanage tomorrow to help during the summer. Hinata had been talking with the headmistress, who had sent a few pictures of the children. Hinata had been talking about the visit nonstop.

Hinata finished his ice cream and jumped up. “Let’s go,” he said. “I’m up for a nap under the sun right now.”

The two walked down the road towards the nearby park. The bright summer sun shone through the tree crowns above them and left their hair and faces mottled with light. The air was filled with the faint scent of grass and still felt wet from the rainstorm on the night before. The sidewalk was relatively empty—there were still a good number of students studying or taking exams. There were plenty of children, bouncing and laughing next to their young parents, who were holding onto them tightly lest they wander into the busy street.

The children reminded Yuta of the children at the orphanage. These children were more plump, dressed better, but they were the same. The same innocence, the same sweetness.

Yuta turned to look at his brother, who, as if able to sense his gaze, glanced over as well. Their eyes met and the two burst into a fit of laughter.

Across the street, Yuta spotted the similar dark hair of Rei and the fluffy silver hair of Koga. He shot a quick glance at the traffic light and saw the pedestrian light was green. Almost without looking and without thinking, he bounded towards them, waving.

“Yuta!” he heard his brother calling his name and saw Rei and Koga turning. He saw Koga’s eyes widen. Before he could understand what was happening, someone rammed into him, sending him stumbling forward and to the ground. He heard a sharp screeching of tires on the ground and the horrified screams of pedestrians all around. Rei and Koga hurried towards him.

Yuta sat on the ground, almost too stunned to move. Deep inside he understood what had just happened, but he didn’t want to turn around. He didn’t want to confront reality.

“Someone call an ambulance!” Yuta heard Koga call from behind a wall of quickly gathering pedestrians. He turned and saw a driver standing by his truck, looking horrified. His brother was lying on the ground, a pool of darkness was slowly seeping out from under him. He wasn’t moving at all.

Yuta pushed himself off of the ground and walked towards his brother, but his legs were too weak. He stumbled to the ground, but he did not stop. By the time he reached his brother, Yuta felt all warmth drained from his body. Despite the warmth of the day, he was plunged into icy water that chilled him to the bones.

He cradled Hinata’s unmoving form in his arms, calling his name numbly. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his side, a pulsing, surging throb. Something was ripped out of him, leaving where it should be an empty, bloody hole that can never be filled. _A curse,_ he thought. _It disguised itself as a miracle and made me arrogant. But it is a curse and now it took from me the most precious thing in my life._

Tears welled up in Yuta’s eyes but he could not move to wipe it away. His brother’s blood, still warm, stained his hands. Rei crouched down next to him. “Hey,” he called gently, “Yuta.”

“Help him,” Yuta whispered, his voice cracking. His voice so foreign to his ear that for a moment, he thought it was someone else speaking. “Help him. I can’t lose him.”

Rei grabbed Hinata’s wrist and held it in his long fingers. After a few seconds, he sighed and gently placed the limp arm over Hinata’s abdomen. “It’s too late,” he said quietly.

“It’s not,” Yuta insisted. “It can’t be.” Suddenly remembering, he jerked his head up sharply to look at Rei. “I-I can give it,” he said. “I will. I can give it to him. Half of it. All of it. Doesn’t matter. Please. Help him.” Desperation crept into his voice. He grabbed Rei’s arm like a drowning man grasping at a straw.

“That’s not how to works,” Rei said slowly, as if each word takes great strength for him to speak.

“There has to be something I-I have to… please. I can’t…” _This is my fault. I had forgotten myself. I should have looked. I should have been careful._

“He’s gone, Yuta. I’m sorry.”

The words fell on Yuta’s ears like thunders. It deafened him, pushed him off of a cliff into a raging sea. Water filled his lungs and he could no longer feel his limbs. Anything Rei might have said after became faint murmur he couldn’t understand. When the ambulance arrived, the piercing siren was no more than a low buzzing. When the ambulance workers took Hinata, Yuta grasped at the air futilely, trying to hold on.

Someone guided him to the curb and held him as he sat. He couldn’t remember who it was, but he imagined it to be Rei.

“It’s my fault,” Yuta whispered. “It’s my fault.”

“It’s not,” Rei said, wrapping an arm around the young man’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. It’s the driver’s. He was on his phone. He wasn’t looking. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But I did,” Yuta said, his voice no louder than a sigh, but somehow Rei had heard him. “I should’ve looked. I should have…”

Rei wrapped his arm around Yuta and pulled him into a tight embrace. Yuta buried his face in the older man’s shoulder, his body shaking, yet no tears came. Nothing, and least of all tears, can convey the emptiness inside his soul. He had never truly been alone, and now that he is, he felt like a lost child desperately looking for his mother’s leg to cling to. Except he had no mother and the person he had been clinging to had just been taken away from him.

—

“There must be something I can do,” Yuta said stubbornly.

“There is… one thing,” Rei said. “A slim chance. So much so that one would likely call it false hope more than anything else.

“What is it?”

“A friend of mine,” Rei said. “She is capable of weaving the threads of fate. Or at least manipulate it to a certain degree. Perhaps she may be able to do something.”

“Take me to her, then,” Yuta said without a moment of hesitation.

“The price will be high.”

Yuta lowered his gaze and smiled sadly. “Well,” he said, “what else do I have to lose?”

—

A child sat on the grassy lawn, holding a ball in his hands. The wind tousled his bright orange hair. A shower of leaves rained down on the child, eliciting a fit of giggles that bubbled out from the child like a spring brook.

The child tossed his ball into the air and watched it fall onto the grass with an intense fascination. The wind carried the ball off of its course, sending it bouncing towards the smooth, asphalt road.

The child let out a sound of frustration and stood up, chasing after the ball with shaking steps.

A tall man dressed in black stopped the ball from going into the street. He grabbed the light pink ball in his long, pale fingers and turned to the child. The child glanced at the man curiously. The man had bright orange hair like the child, and something about him seemed familiar. The child couldn’t put an age to him. The man seemed to be young, almost ageless, yet he seemed old. Older than anyone he knew, even his mama.

“Here you go,” the man said, crouching down and handing the ball to the child.

“Thank you,” the child said with the unique mumble of a youth. He took the ball and held it carefully in his small hands. “I’m Hinata,” the child added hurriedly, unknown as to what compelled him to speak his name to this stranger.

The man grinned widely and held out a hand to the child. “I’m Yuta,” he said. “I just moved in down the street. Maybe we can be friends in the future.”


End file.
